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Canada Racks Up Fossil Awards in Durban as Rumors of Kyoto Withdrawal Swirl

ICTMN Staff

11/30/11

As rumors swirled about Canada's potential withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, the nation continued its Fossil Award–winning sweep at the COP17 talks in Durban, South Africa, on November 30 as the Climate Action Network (CAN) handed out its daily dose of anti-kudos to countries that put pollution-causing development ahead of lives.

On opening day, November 29, the northern nation won both second and first place for Environmental Minister Peter Kent's continued bashing of developing countries as well as his implication that Canada would likely not sign on for an extension of the accord on emissions targets signed in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997.

In an interview with the Canadian Press before leaving for Durban, Kent said that lesser-developed countries must stop "wielding the historical guilty card" in asking for less-stringent emissions targets just because industrial countries historically have created more greenhouse gas emissions than other nations.

Kent further fueled the fire by claiming that "from Canada's point of view, Kyoto was the biggest mistake the previous Liberal government made," referring to Canada's signing of the Kyoto Protocol.

This as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in its annual report to the U.N. talks said that 2011 has been the warmest year on record as far as climate goes.

With debate still raging over the use of bituminous crude from the notorious oil sands of northern Alberta, Canada, it would seem that Kent is hardly one to talk. Even China, one of the alleged major emitters, called on Canada to set a better example vis a vis combatting climate change. A Canadian withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol would hurt the international community's attempts to mitigate climate change, a leader of the Chinese delegation to Durban told the news agency Xinhua. It would "definitely add to the obstacles in our negotiation," said Su Wei, deputy head of the Chinese delegation and the country's chief negotiator on climate change.

At the same time, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other prominent Africans took out an ad in the conference's daily newsletter ECO with "A Message for Canada during the UN Climate Summit in Durban" that was essentially a petition urging Canada to set a better example on combatting climate change the way it had against Apartheid in the 1980s.

"Canada, you were once considered a leader on global issues like human rights and environmental protection," the ad said. "Today you’re home to polluting tar sands oil, speeding the dangerous effects of climate change. For us in Africa, climate change is a life and death issue. By dramatically increasing Canada’s global warming pollution, tar sands mining and drilling makes the problem worse, and exposes millions of Africans to more devastating drought and famine today and in the years to come. It’s time to draw the line. We call on Canada to change course and be a leader in clean energy and to support international action to reduce global warming pollution."

The U.S.'s decision over the Keystone XL pipeline has been postponed until after the 2012 presidential election, and Canada has indicated it will take its oil sands products to Asia if the U.S. does not allow the construction of a 1,700-mile-long pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile several First Nations are set to reiterate their major opposition to Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in the wake of a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the sustainable-energy think tank the Pembina Institute, and the marine conservation group the Living Oceans Society saying that the pipeline would risk too much environmental damage to be feasible. Several First Nations of British Columbia will hold a press conference in Vancouver on December 1.

On the day that Kent's attitude netted Canada's two opening-day Fossil Awards, third place went to Britain—but only because of its efforts to bring Canada's tar sands oil into Europe.

"This quotation from Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent, doesn’t even require paraphrasing in typical fossil humour—it is sufficiently outrageous on its own," CAN said in bestowing those first Fossils.

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Very sad to see Peter Kent fallen into such company as the Harper government. I remember his reporting from Vietnam back in the late 60s and later his role as CBC News anchor. He always seemed like a voice of moderation and reason. Now he's the mouthpiece for the most environmentally regressive government in the Western world. Such a pity...I wonder how he sleeps at night.